Bradley University Athletics

Braves Start Home Tourney in Style

Bradley's five participants combined for a 6-2 record during the opening day of the Bradley Invitational

Natalia Barbery (left) and Sandra Maletin celebrate a point during their Doubles Flight A match Friday

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Women's Tennis 9/22/2017 6:15:00 PM

PEORIA, IL - Freshmen Sanda Maletin (Belgrade, Serbia) and Victoria Gonzalez (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) both delivered 3-set victories in their singles matches, helping the Braves to a 6-2 combined record during the opening day of the Bradley Invitational Friday at the David Markin Tennis Courts.

Making their collegiate home debuts, Maletin won both of her singles and doubles matches, while Gonzalez rebounded from her opening doubles loss with a Singles Flight D opening-round win. Maletin teamed with sophomore Natalia Barbery (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) for a 7-5 win in Doubles Flight A to get Bradley's day started off on the right foot. Senior Alexa Brandt (Denver, CO) and junior Malini Wijesinghe (Apple Valley, MN) followed with a 6-1 victory in their opening-round match in Doubles Flight B. Paired with Western Illinois' Cary Milanes in an intersquad doubles combo, Gonzalez suffered a 6-2 loss in her Doubles Flight B match.

In her Singles Flight A match against Eastern Illinois' Stella Cliffe, Maletin recovered from a 6-4 loss in the first set by pulling out the second set, 7-5, and the third-set tiebreaker, 10-7. Barbery suffered reverse fortune in her Singles Flight B opener, dropping a 3-6, 6-3, 14-12 decision to Illinois State's Jana Kustkova. After teaming together in doubles, both Brandt and Wijesinghe earned first-round wins in Singles Flight C. Brandt survived a 4-6, 6-4, 11-9 battle against Western Illinois' Laura Ballesteros, while Wijesinghe took a straight-sets decision - 6-0, 6-4, against DePaul's Milica Tesic.

Playing in Singles Flight D's round-robin draw, Gonzalez pulled out a 6-2, 5-7, 10-3 win against Western Illinois' Maria Bessmertnaya.

The Bradley Invitational will continue with second-round action in both singles and doubles Saturday at 9 a.m. at the David Markin Tennis Courts. Saturday's play will begin with championship and consolation semifinal play in singles, followed by the championship and consolation semifinal play in doubles.

Admission is free for Bradley Tennis matches at the David Markin Tennis Courts.

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